


barlights

by sludgeraptor



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, first kisses. and lollipops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-04
Updated: 2019-09-04
Packaged: 2020-10-06 22:10:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20514299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sludgeraptor/pseuds/sludgeraptor
Summary: Chrom and Gaius make a habit of bar-hopping, even though Chrom knows better. Sometimes that leads him to unexpected places. Like dark alleyways with the kind of boy Frederick had always warned him about.





	barlights

**Author's Note:**

  * For [provocation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/provocation/gifts).

> really this fic is a quick/big thank you to my beautiful friend melothy for finally relenting to my demands and playing fe:awakening, which i feel like i've been trying to convince them to do for years. also just because i love and miss chrom and gaius every day of my life. can't believe they're literally married, in canon!  
thank youuuu also to cocoa arazuta for proofreading this for me on such short notice and despite the fact that they were about to pass out/possibly have a headache? unclear. regardless we are united in our support for gay awakenings

“Come with me,” Gaius murmurs, dragging Chrom by the wrist through the crowd of drunken strangers. Chrom can’t entirely repress the urge to cling to Gaius, sticking just a little too close to his back to where he can’t imagine it’s anything but uncomfortable for the other man. But Gaius doesn’t protest, either genuinely sympathetic towards his anxiety, or - more likely - filing it away to make fun of Chrom with later.

Either way, Chrom doesn’t have to wait long to find out where they're headed. Gaius leads him through the back door of the bar into a dingy alleyway. He lets go of Chrom’s wrist, dancing away from him to flop against the opposite wall. 

He looks around for some sort of reason that they would be out here. The bricks are water stained (to be optimistic about it), adorned with half-torn down band posters and crude graffiti. (In fact, Gaius is obscuring what Chrom is pretty sure is a comically oversized cartoon dick attached to a little stick man. He snorts at it, then clears his throat. He can  _ hear _ Frederick telling him about maturity or whatever the fuck in the back of his mind.) There’s...a dumpster? Is that what they’re there for? He almost makes his way towards it to start fishing around in it like Gaius has brought him on the world’s shittiest treasure hunt before he realises that there is no way that is the truth and that he is, in fact, just tipsy.

“Why are we out here?” Chrom asks, after a moment to refocus his thoughts.

Gaius shrugs. He’s taken out his phone, and what Chrom mistakenly thinks is a cigarette hanging from his lips thanks to the dim lighting is quickly revealed to be a lollipop when Gaius pulls it out of his mouth and waves it around demonstratively.

“Ambiance,” he jokes. 

Chrom stares at him for a moment or two, waiting for further explanation, but none comes. So he goes to Gaius’ side. He flops against the wall next to him, looking him over.

“Your outfit tonight,” he begins, “it’s, uh. It’s cool.”

Gaius looks up from his phone to give Chrom a curious look. “Thanks. That’s because I dress up when I go out.”

Chrom puts a hand to his chest. He tries to contain his goofy grin, but can’t quite manage it. “You wound me, Gaius. What’s wrong with my outfit?”

“Blue, please. I’m trying  _ not _ to have Freddy-Bear snap my spine over his knee. If he even knew we were out here, I’d be a dead man, and gods forbid what would happen if I started insulting you.”

“Out here like the bar, or out here like a dirty alley with no lights?” Chrom asks, ignoring that last bit. Mostly because he knows it's true, but he doesn't like thinking about all the rules he's breaking by being here.

“I think the dirty alley with no lights is part of the bar,” Gaius argues. He shoves his phone in his pocket, then leans slightly against Chrom. Chrom’s heart jumps into his throat and if he was held at gunpoint and asked why, he would have no good answer. “But both.”

“Right.” He swallows thickly. “So why are we out here?”

“An important part of exploring the world is knowing when to take a break,” Gaius explains. Chrom can hear that edge of something in his voice that only comes out when he’s drunk or getting there - something genuine, something soft. Chrom knows this is the same man who taught him to pick locks and pockets with equal skill, but at the moment he seems like someone else. Someone less guarded, maybe. “And I got tired of all the noise.”

Chrom glances at the back door of the bar. To him, it seems to be practically vibrating with the bass of the shitty Ylisstol-brand dance-pop, and even at the distance they’re at with the thick door between them and the club he’s pretty sure he recognises one of Lissa’s favourite singers he can never remember the name of. 

“Sure,” he agrees. “Yeah, I guess it’s quieter out here.”

Gaius stays leaning against him. He’s so still that for a moment Chrom is sure he’s fallen asleep, but then he says, “If you don’t agree, you can fuckin’ say so, Blue. I know you’re a fancy-pants noble, but I know you’re no coward, either. Remember when you beat the hell out of that guy for -”

“Yeah, yeah, gods. Frederick was so angry at me.” Chrom grimaces at the memory. “I really thought he was going to find out about this. Us.”

Gaius laughs. “Are you hiding me from him, Blue? Tsk. I should’ve known you’d be ashamed of a guy like me.”

“I’m not ashamed of you,” Chrom replies, blood alcohol content meaning he absolutely misses the joke. When Gaius laughs harder, he insists, “I’m  _ not _ ashamed of you!”

“Won’t you take me to meet your family, then, Blue?” Gaius teases, grabbing Chrom’s arm and leaning up against him. Chrom’s heart, which had made its way back into his chest where it was supposed to be, thank you very much, relocates once more to his windpipe. He makes a choked noise of protest, but Gaius insists, “Introduce me to Lady Emmeryn! Take me to dinner at your palace! Wine and dine me, Sir Chrom. Pull a movie transformation - street tramp to trophy husband!”

His face is burning. He’s glad the alley is dark, but somehow, he feels like Gaius can tell anyway. That was part of the trade, Gaius had once explained; you find the mark who’s most distracted, least likely to notice your hand slipping into their jean pockets. Chrom wonders what it would feel like to catch Gaius slipping his fingers into Chrom’s jeans, and then he remembers in this scenario he’s being robbed, and he shakes his head to clear it of the image. 

“You’ve  _ met _ my family,” is his very stupid croaked protest. Gaius laughs some more, and Chrom doubles down with, “You’ve met Emm! She likes you. Even Frederick likes you, though he pretends otherwise. By Naga, Gaius. Don’t - you’re doing this to embarrass me -”

“Crivens. I thought you’d never catch on,” Gaius agrees, still giggling. He shifts his grip on the prince’s arm. “You’re way, way too easy to tease, Blue. I guess part of living a blessed life like yours is not being used to people taking the piss out of you.”

Chrom shrugs, mouth dry. Gaius is so close, so warm. Blame it on the sugary drinks Gaius had bought them or on Chrom’s own oft-noted foolishness, but he can’t stop thinking about doing something stupid and impulsive and very, very likely to get him a lecture on tradition. 

“I’m not,” he admits. “I like - I’m okay with it when you do it, though. I think.”

Gaius raises his eyebrows. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. I mean. I know you don’t mean it.” He pauses. “Don’t you?”

“Come on, Blue,” Gaius scoffs. “If I was using you for your money, don’t you think I’d be going a little far to be doing all of this?” His hand slides down to where it was earlier, gripping Chrom’s wrist, then even further, intertwining his fingers with Chrom’s. Chrom’s so overwhelmed he could barf. In a good way! Or - or maybe he was just less used to margaritas than he thought he was.

He doesn’t get to think about his vomit status for very long, though, because he’s quickly distracted by Gaius closing the distance between them and kissing him. 

It’s softer than he expected, somehow. Gaius had such an aloof persona, and in a lot of ways, he was that distant, but it was in moments like this that Chrom saw that the man was a lot more caring than he usually let on. Chrom kisses back, clumsy and unpracticed - Gaius tastes like sugar and smells like alcohol, a combination that Chrom should probably not find as appealing as he does. _ _

_ Holy fuck, _ he realises,  _ my first kiss is with my shady best friend behind his favourite dive bar next to a dumpster.  _

_ Frederick is gonna have my head. _

When Gaius pulls away, Chrom almost leans forward to try and continue the contact, but thinks better of it at the last second. Gaius rests his forehead against Chrom’s for a moment, then leans away to rest against the wall once more. He puts the lollipop back in his mouth.

Chrom leans against the wall as well, head spinning. Gaius had kissed him, and he’d kissed back. What did that mean? Was he gay? Was  _ Gaius _ gay? Chrom had never noticed before, but the possibility suddenly seems obvious. And the reasoning wasn’t just that he’d just kissed another man. 

(Okay. That was like 80% of it. But still.)

“Hey, so-” Chrom clears his throat, then coughs. “Do you want - do you want to go home? You can, uhm. Meet my family,” he jokes. Now his cheeks are so red that not even the low light can hide them, but honestly, he hardly gives a shit.

Gaius rolls his eyes. The smile on his face is probably the most earnest (and not sugar-induced) that Chrom has ever seen. “Nah. I hate that place. It’s so fancy, and I can’t steal enough to pay rent without someone noticing.”

Chrom’s stomach drops. “Oh, that...So...”

“Yeah.”

“Oh.”

“But,” Gaius continues, and when he squeezes Chrom’s hand Chrom realises he never actually let go, “we can always go back to my apartment. It’s really shitty. Rats and mold and shit. Can you handle it, Blue?”

Chrom lights up. “Yes!” he replies, too quickly and too loudly. (Gaius is polite enough to only cringe a little bit at the volume.) “Yeah. Yes, I can. I want to. Let’s go. I can - I can pay for the taxi.”

“Hey now,” Gaius laughs. “Just because we’re going back to my place doesn’t mean you’re getting any sugar. Calm down.”

Chrom gives him a wide-eyed look. “I didn’t think - no, I didn’t expect any. Unless you mean you won’t share your candy with me. Which, I mean, I didn’t expect that either. You’re really stingy about that stuff.”

Now it’s Gaius’ turn to look shocked. “Then what’s the dumb excitement for?”

There’s a moment where Chrom isn’t sure what to say. Then his face changes from nervous staring to his usual dopey grin. (Like a golden retriever, Lissa liked to say.) “Because I’ll be going there with you, Gaius.”

Chrom was right to think that the shadows didn’t hide his blush, because he can certainly see Gaius’ clear as day. He inhales so suddenly that Chrom is worried he’s going to choke on the lollipop, but then clears his throat, clearly taking a moment to compose himself. 

“Alright. I like sweets and all, but that was ridiculous,” he grumbles, and Chrom’s grin widens. “You  _ are _ paying for the taxi. Just for making me listen to that honeyed bullcrap. Crivens.”

“Whatever you want,” Chrom agrees without hesitation. “Shit, we can even get a limo if that’s what you’re after.” 

Just to be sure, Chrom gives his hand a squeeze. When he gets one in return, quick and firm, his fears are assuaged. He looks up at the night sky, to the stars obscured by the city lights, and thinks,  _ Thank you, Naga, for not letting it be a dream. _

**Author's Note:**

> this is also to all the people who've begged me to write more awakening over the years. you're fucking WELCOME


End file.
